Today's communication networks provide transport of voice, video and data to both residential and commercial customers, with more and more of those customers being connected by fiber optic cables. In these communication networks, information is transmitted from one location to another by sending pulses of light through the fiber optic cables. Fiber optic transmission provides several advantages over electrical transmission techniques, such as increased bandwidth and lower losses.
So-called fiber to the premises (FTTP) fiber optic network configurations are becoming more prevalent. FTTP network configurations provide a complete fiber optic connection from the service provider's network to the customer's service location. These configurations are desirable because the high bandwidth capability of fiber optic transmission is brought directly to the service point.
So-called fiber to the antenna (FTTA) configurations are a kind of FTTP fiber optic network configuration that is employed in wireless telecommunications networks. Wireless telecommunications networks include communications towers with antennas (e.g., panel shaped antennas) mounted at elevation on the tower. These antennas receive and transmit voice and data to user devices in the coverage area. In an FTTA configuration, fiber optic cables are brought directly to the antenna. The antenna includes integrated hardware that is interfaces with the fiber optic connection to transmit and receive data across the fiber optic cable.
As is the case in any FTTP configuration, an FTTA network configuration requires a network node that provide a connection point between the service provider side fiber optic cabling (i.e., the fiber optic cable that is part of the global telecommunications network) and the customer side fiber optic cabling (i.e., the dedicated fiber optic cable that is routed to the service point). A demarcation box may be used to provide this network node. Important design criterion for demarcation boxes for FTTA applications include space-efficiency, ease of access to the stored fiber optic cabling, and ease of connection/disconnection of the stored fiber optic cabling.